Pandita Mary Ramabai

Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees,
who write oppressive statutes,

to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,

that widows may be your spoil,
and that you may make the orphans your prey!

What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the calamity that will come from far away?

To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth,

so as not to crouch among the prisoners
or fall among the slain?

For all this, his anger has not turned away;
his hand is stretched out still.

1 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart; *
I will tell of all your marvelous works.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; *
I will sing to your Name, O Most High.

3 When my enemies are driven back, *
they will stumble and perish at your presence.

4 For you have maintained my right and my cause; *
you sit upon your throne judging right.

5 You have rebuked the ungodly and destroyed the wicked; *
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

9 The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, *
a refuge in time of trouble.

10 Those who know your Name will put their trust in you, *
for you never forsake those who seek you, O Lord.

11 Sing praise to the Lord who dwells in Zion; *
proclaim to the peoples the things he has done.

12 The Avenger of blood will remember them; *
he will not forget the cry of the afflicted.

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”